B = Bang Court Wrangle

LEGAL action is being taken by Manchester City Council over the controversial B of the Bang sculpture. Architect Thomas Heatherwick's company and three subcontractors are being sued in the high court for £2M the council says is needed to solve long-running structural problems.

LEGAL action is being taken by Manchester City Council over the controversial B of the Bang sculpture.

Architect Thomas Heatherwick's company and three subcontractors are being sued in the high court for £2M the council says is needed to solve long-running structural problems.

The massive dynamic £1.42M sculpture at Sportcity – constructed as a lasting celebration of Manchester's successful 2002 Commonwealth Games – first hit trouble in January 2005 when one of the huge spikes fell off on the eve of its official unveiling by Olympic sprint champ Linford Christie.

Four months later a second 7ft spike had to be removed by emergency firefighters after passing motorists spotted it swaying in the wind.

A third was taken away last month following maintainance work.

Another nine spikes were sawn away for tests in May 2006 because of continued fears over the safety of the structure.

After being cordoned off for a whole year, the slip road between Ashton New Road and Alan Turing Way was then finally reopened.

But the planned 'gateway' Commonwealth Way pedestrian entrance to the stadium, allowing people to walk directly underneath the sculpture, has never been opened.

Council chief executive Sir Howard Bernstein said they were left with "no alternative" but to take legal action.

He said: "The project has taken too long to bring forward, although we have given the artist and their subcontractors every opportunity to remedy the situation.

"Our forebearance has now been tested to the full.

"As a public body with financial responsibilities, we have absolutely no alternative but to commence legal proceedings and see this matter through to its ultimate conclusion if that proves necessary."

The largest piece of public artwork in Britain, B of the Bang was originally supposed to be completed before Manchester City FC took over the City of Manchester Stadium in 2003.

Its 180 spikes – stretching 184ft from the ground – are designed to capture the explosion of an athletics starting pistol.

The initial £750,000 cost rocketed because the contractors didn't include the price of installation in the original quote and £120,000 of council taxpayers' money was used to prop up the project.

The rest came mainly from public money for art – £700,000 from the European Regional Development Fund, £500,000 from the Northwest Regional Development Agency and £100,000 from English Partnerships.

Regeneration company New East Manchester commissioned the structure in 2002, when artist Thomas Heatherwick won a competition to build a major piece of public art as a symbol of east Manchester's rebirth.

They have refused to take ownership of because of the recurring problems.

Mr Heatherwick was praised as 'potentially one of the great British artists of our times' in August when he was given a honorary doctorate by Manchester Metropolitan University, where he studied design.

After the ceremony he described B of the Bang as "close to his heart" and added: "I am confident it will be resolved because it is a beautiful and important project for Manchester."